Broom Cupboard Confessions
by 00Verisimilitude00
Summary: After the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione sort out their problems. Crying, insults, explanations, comforting and... of course snogging, all in a broom cupboard. One-shot


**A/N: Hi all, so this is a one-shot consisting of Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and a broom closet.**

**It will be part of a series of one-shots consisting of canon pairings and broom cupboards. I have already written and posted a Neville/Hannah fic, and are in the midst of writing Teddy/Victoire. I am planning on writing a L/J, Rose/Scorpius, Andromeda/Ted, Remus/Tonks. Ending up with my lucky number 7 in all.**

**Reader Discretion: This is rated T, and so there will be **_**no**_** graphic sex or even any sex at all. This is entirely to not put off younger readers and it goes for all my one-shots in this entire series.**

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"Ron, please!" Hermione pleaded half-heartedly, "Now is not the time."

"Yes it bloody well is," Ron retorted as he gently tugged her from the red armchair by the fire.

"Come on," she attempted again, pushing him away slightly as she stood up, "I'm tired, there's so much to clean up tomorrow-"

Ron cut her off. "Have I ever told you that you need to sort out your priorities?"

Hermione scowled. "I haven't heard that phrase since first year."

"Yeah, well, you've gotten better since then."

"I see you haven't," she retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron said, a bit angrily.

"Look Ron, we should be sleeping, not sneaking out under Harry's invisibility cloak for some mad night time adventure!" She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Ron muttered something practically inaudible, but Hermione was able to discern "priorities," again and, "mental," quite a few times.

"Look, I know you're upset," Hermione said once the grumbling subsided, "and you're emotional range of a teaspoon just enlarged to the size of an ocean, but really, this isn't at all practical-"

"Who gives a damn about practicality?" he said heatedly. "Hermione, you can't say you don't want to-"

"No," she said firmly. "Look, you're not yourself, we'll deal with all this when you've adjusted and properly grieved for Fred-"

"Don't you dare talk about Fred," Ron inserted immediately.

"Why not?" Hermione demanded, her temper rising.

"Because Fred has nothing to do with us!" Ron nearly shouted.

"Of course he does!" Hermione said, easily just as loud as Ron. "You're using our relationship as some sort of distraction from everything you don't want to face! You think I don't know why you've been so attentive to me all of a sudden? Why we've snuck off for a snog every time you're family comes around?"

Ron blanched. "That's not... No Hermione, you've gotten it all wrong," he said weakly, all the anger totally gone.

"Because I've noticed Ron Weasley," Hermione continued, ignoring Ron's changing attitude, "And I'm not letting this happen any longer. I _know _you, and you're feelings are private. I get that. If you don't want to share, fine," she laughed humourlessly, "But don't expect me to sit around and watch you put all of your emotional investment into this relationship just because you don't want to put your efforts into the healthier but more painful mourning process. There is no way this," she gestured to herself and Ron, "is going to work if your heart is not in it. I don't want to be your escape route or diversion, or whatever label you want, from what you really need to focus on. So right now you need to sort out your own priorities, which do not include me."

"Hermione-" he tried again, but she wouldn't hear a word.

"No, Ron," she shook her head.

"Are you breaking up with me?" he said, a disbelieving tone to his voice.

Hermione gulped, steeling herself for what she was going to say. "Yes," she breathed as she looked at the floor between Ron's feet.

It's for the best, it's for the best, she chanted silently to herself.

Ron let out a strangled scoffing noise. "I don't fucking believe it," he said after a moment.

Hermione shifted her gaze and glared at him. "Well, believe it, Ronald Wealsey, because it just happened!" she snapped.

"I can't-" Ron started, and then broke off.

"You can't what, Ron?" Hermione said shrilly, "believe that a girl like me would end it? That I'd have the guts you didn't have with Lavender?" She didn't know what made her say it. All Hermione knew was that she needed Ron to get out of her proximity before she begged him to take her back and forgive her for her hurtful words.

It's for the best, it's for the best, she began again.

Ron turned purple. Suddenly he seemed to tower above her in his anger. "Fine," he said curtly, eyes flashing dangerously. "But, just so you know, I thought you were better than this. Clearly you still think you know what's good for everyone because if it came from your all knowing head, how can it possibly be wrong?" he gave her a sardonic smile that cut right into her heart. "But, let me teach you something for once, Hermione," Ron paused, "You don't know me _at all."_

Hermione could only stare at him and listen to the sound of her heart breaking. For once she was silent.

"I see you haven't become any less of an annoying know-it-all in the last seven years," he said with finality.

At Ron's last words the tears started to gather in her eyes. Rather than giving him the satisfaction of knowing he got to her, she brushed past him and out the portrait hole. It was only as she felt the painting swing shut that Hermione let out a sob. Many more quickly followed.

She hurried blindly down the corridors as the tears streamed down her face, led by her burning desire to get away from Ron. Nothing he had ever said before had hurt quite this much, Hermione thought as she slid into a broom closet to get over her tears in peace. Sure, he had made her cry before, in reality Ron's made just about everyone cry at one point or another, but this time was different.

Before Hermione could only dream of what it was like to kiss Ron, what it was like to feel his arms wrapped tenderly around her, what it was like to be the girlfriend of Ron Weasley. Now it was all gone. Dashed, because of her stupid need to analyse everything to bits and unique ability drive him up the wall like no one else could.

As she sat there on an upturned bucket, Hermione tried in vain to suppress the sobs that were wracking her chest for a few moments. Eventually she gave up. Right now she was beyond caring, anyway. It's not like she needed to be presentable to anybody. The only person she had ever dressed up for was currently fuming a few stories above her and probably planning to ignore her for the rest of his life.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione was still unable to muster the energy to get up from her bucket-turned-seat. Head still spinning in a self-depreciating spiral, she didn't hear the sounds of someone approaching.

She did hear when he called out to her, however.

"Hermione? Where are you?" she heard someone say right outside the door. "The damn map says I should be bloody on top of you right now," he broke off and looked up from the bit of old parchment he had been poring over. "Oh," Ron said once he opened the door and saw Hermione inside.

"What do you want?" Hermione asked, sitting up and doubling her efforts keep the sobs at bay. "I don't have anything left to say to you, Ron."

"That's alright," Ron said slowly, "Because I have a couple of things to say to you."

Hermione glared at him through red eyes. "I think you've said quite enough," she snapped, and attempted to get up and bypass him again.

"Dammit Hermione, I'm trying to apologise!" Ron said loudly, stepping into the closet and blocking the doorway to keep her cornered.

"What?" she breathed.

"Apologise," he repeated, blushing slightly. "I was being a prat. I-I don't think you're an annoying know-it-all."

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

Ron looked at her sheepishly. "Well, you're not annoying at any rate."

Hermione tried to give him a weak smile.

"Wait a sec, I can't see you at all," Ron said suddenly. "Lumos." He settled his wand on a dusty shelf.

He looked at her cautiously before gingerly seating himself down across from her on an upside down crate. "Wait, that's not all I wanted to say." He took a deep breath. "I just wanted to settle a few things, make sure you've got all your information straight before you go on your way."

Hermione didn't respond. Instead she was staring intently at a bottle of Mrs. Scower's All Purpose Mess Remover.

Ron too was avoiding eye contact. "What you said before while you were yelling at me, well, it wasn't exactly right."

"In what way?" Hermione asked sharply, turning to look him full in the face.

Ron continued to turn red. "Er, most of it?" he phrased it as a question.

"I see," Hermione said after a moment.

Ron took a deep breath. "I-I've accepted Fred's death."

She shot him a disbelieving look.

"I have!" Ron said defensively. "Look, you know, those first few days after the Battle?"

"Yeah," Hermione said as she remembered.

"I wasn't here."

"I know. I looked for you for hours." Hermione turned slightly pink at her words.

"Sorry about that," Ron said apologetically, "I was in Hogsmeade."

"Excuse me?"

"George took all of us there, minus Mum and Ginny," Ron paused, summoning up the courage to tell her exactly what happened. "He told us that we all needed a break, have a few pints to reminisce, forget, or whatever. Well, Dad, Percy, Bill and Charlie left after just a few hours. They had jobs to get back to, what with the Ministry being in shambles and all that." Ron swallowed. "George and I stayed. We drank ourselves into an oblivion," he said bluntly. "You were right before, I didn't want to deal with Fred's death."

He shot her a look, but she seemed none too pleased that she had been correct in her assessment.

"Anyway, despite my drunken evading, we somehow got to talking about him. And I completely broke down," Ron whispered, clearly ashamed. "I kept drinking, and crying for the whole day. Eventually Harry came by to see Aberfoth about something the next morning and found me passed out at one of the tables, I think. I'm not really clear about what happened. Anyway," Ron gulped, speaking a bit louder now, "He got me sobered up and everything, but I still couldn't stop crying. Harry stayed with me the whole rest of the day, talking to me and trying to calm me down. That night Harry went back to the castle to continue with the cleanup. I rented one of Aberforth's rooms. I just couldn't deal with my whole family just yet, especially Mum. Turns out that took longer than I thought, and I spent the entire next day at the Hog's Head as well, just thinking. I didn't dare order anything but water from Aberforth. That night I walked back up to the castle at two in the morning, and passed out in the boy's dormitories. You found me the next morning, as you know." He gave her a small nod.

"I'm sorry," Hermione sighed, one hand over her mouth. She looked down and was startled to see that her other hand was resting in Ron's. Subconsciously she must have reached out to touch him during his story. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"It's alright," Ron shrugged it off. "I deserved most of it anyway."

"No you didn't!" she insisted, "Just because you weren't in the castle, I assumed that whatever you were doing was less important..." she drifted off in horror as she remembered exactly what she had said.

"Forget it, Hermione." Ron lifted his other hand to cover the one he held and began to rub soothing circles on her palm, "It was my fault for not telling you exactly what I had been up to."

Hermione was too distracted by his touch to retort back.

"There more to you being wrong, you know," Ron said, giving her a small smile.

Hermione couldn't say why, but at that precise moment she realized where they were. Maybe it was his smile, maybe it was his story, but she suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that she was in a broom closet with _Ron Weasley_. A cramped broom cupboard, which had probably seen more snogging couples than mops at this point.

"You gave evidence as to why you thought I was using you as, what did you call it, a distraction?" Ron continued.

"That you've been too attentive, and that every time your family comes around, you drag me off for a snog," she said immediately, eyes narrowing in distrust.

"Er, right," he said awkwardly, "I knew it was something along those lines."

"I assume you have a perfectly logical explanation that has nothing to do with Fred?" Hermione asked.

"Well, yeah," Ron said, still smiling. "Too attentive?" he questioned, "I didn't think there's anything wrong with that."

"There isn't!" Hermione said, eyes wide. "But, with you, please don't take this the wrong way, Ron, I never saw you do anything but snog Lavender. It's just suspicious that you follow me everywhere, of course it's not that I don't like it, when you did your best to evade her when you were in that relationship. And you also hold my hand, again not that I don't enjoy it, which you never did with Lavender. Also you keep complimenting me, not that the flattery isn't nice, but-"

Hermione broke off her rather clumsily worded speech at the sound of Ron's laughter.

"I don't find this particularly funny!" she said heatedly.

The laughter abruptly died at the glare Hermione was sending his way. "Right," Ron said guiltily. "It's just, er, funny," he winced, but no attack came, "that you compare yourself to her."

"Why wouldn't I?" Hermione demanded. "She was your first girlfriend."

"So? Didn't mean I liked it."

"You didn't like Lavender?" she questioned.

"Nope," Ron said breezily.

"But you dated her for months!" she screeched. "And you're saying you never fancied her?"

Ron dropped her hand and gently placed both his hands on her shoulders. "I dunno, maybe in the beginning. Before I spent too much time around her. But the point is, Hermione, I don't understand why you're getting so upset."

"Upset? I'm not upset!" she exclaimed loudly, clearly distraught.

"Because I never fancied Lavender nearly as much as I fancy _you_," Ron continued, looking Hermione in the eye.

"Oh."

"And what was your other point? That every time I see my family I run off with you for some snogging?" he asked, slightly amused.

"Er, yeah," Hermione said, avoiding his gaze and still embarrassed by her outburst.

Ron quietly chuckled to himself, "Is there ever a moment when we're free of my many family members? And is there ever a moment when I don't want to snog you? Let me answer those two for you, Hermione. The answer is no, to both. Oh, and I'd prefer not to snog you right in front of them. Mum gets sappy and George takes the mickey."

"So that last one is simply a coincidence?"

"Looks like it," Ron said casually.

She looked up at him. "This isn't like you," she accused.

"What isn't?"

"This whole romantic, articulate... thing," she said lamely.

"It's probably a once in a lifetime experience," Ron grinned. "You'd better take advantage of it while you can."

"I fully plan to," Hermione said, summoning up her resolve.

With that, she leaned over and pressed her lips to his. Ron responded immediately, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her onto his lap. They spent a few happy moments snogging the living daylights out of each other.

After a few minutes Ron freed his mouth from Hermione's. "Bloody hell, does this mean we're back on?" he asked seriously.

"Oh Ron," Hermione sighed, reaching up to remove a strand of hair from her face.

"What? I never know what girls are thinking. I have to be sure!"

"You honestly have no idea what was going through my mind just then?"

"Um, no?"

"Let me show you." Again, Hermione leaned over and kissed him, but this time slowly and sensually, trying to convey that Ron should just shut the hell up and continue snogging her.

"No, Hermione," said Ron stubbornly, withdrawing his mouth from hers again. "Are we going out, or not?"

She gave a hearty sigh of frustration. Of course she would have to fall for the densest bloke on the planet. "Yes, we're together again. Happy?"

Ron grinned at her. "Extremely, now was that so hard?"

She scowled, but a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth. A moment later she gave up and grinned broadly. "Yes, because I should be busy with much more important activities rather than explaining the quite obvious dynamic of our relationship to you."

"Well, let's get you busy, then!"

And they did.

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**A/N: I felt that Ron was getting a little OOC in the middle, so I brought him back full force in the end :) If you want to request a certain pairing, feel free to say so in a review!**


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